Inflatable ball



Jan. 1Q, 1939. DENKERT 2,143,409

INFLATABLE BALL Filed April 9, 1938 :5 ii i ATTORNEY iMill/ENTOR Patented Jan. 10, 1939 PATENT OFFICE INFLATABLE BALL- Hem'y Denkert, Johnstown, N. Y., assignor to M.

Denkert & Company, Johnstown, N. Y., a partnership composed of Mitchell Denkert, James B. Dcnkert, and, said Henry Denkert Application April 9, 1938, Serial No. 201,037

4 Claims.

My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the same,- and a slight modification 5 thereof, selected by me for purposes of illustration, and the said invention is'fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

In the manufacture of inflatable balls such as are used in playing football in its various forms,

J basket ball, soccer ball and volley ball, in which the ball is grasped by the hands of the players in passing, throwing and the like, and in some instances is kicked by the foot of the players as in football, it is desirable that the ball, which 15 may be of either spherical or elongated shape,

should have its exterior surface truly curved in desirable, especially in games in which the ball, is handled by the player's hands, that the surface should not be so slippery and smooth as to accidentally slip from the player's grasp and dethrown.

In the manufacture of such balls it has been usual to form the body of the ball of leather, the separate segments or blades of which are stitched 30 together with the seams inside and to provide it internally with a so-called bladder which is infiated to a desired internal pressure. As these bladders, which are usually formed of very thin rubber, frequently burst, it is customary to proslit to permit the insertion of the bladder in its deflated form and the edges of the cover slit are customarily provided with rows of apertures to receive lacings to enable the cover to be laced 4o tightly so as to close the slit, a small aperture being provided to permit the inflation of the bladder to the desired pressure. Obviously the presence of the scam in the heavy leather cover or body of the ball, as well as the presence of 45 the lacings cause inequalities of surface on the exterior of the ball, which to a greater or less extent, affect the direction of the ball in play.

In carrying out my invention I provide. the body of the ball of molded rubber having the wall, 50 which is preferably of considerable thickness,

sufficiently strong to withstand the highest internal pressure to which the ball may be inflated without distortion, so that it does not require any external reinforcement to hold it in the de- 55 sired shape, and thus permitting the ball to be molded with great accuracy and with an absolutely true external surface. The body of the ball when molded is provided with a plurality of longitudinally disposed grooves in its exterior 60 surface, without weakening the strength of the ect it from the intended course when it is 5 vide the leather exterior body with an elongated wall, and the exterior plane surface of the ball is formed of a plurality of blades of leather corresponding in shape to the segments of the exterior surface of the body between adjacent grooves, but sufficiently larger than said seg- 5 ments to permit the edge portions of the blades to be inserted within said grooves. These blades of leather are separately and independently cemented, glued or otherwise adhesively secured to the exterior of the rubber body or carcass of the ball, and the marginal or edge portions of the blades are glued to the inwardly extending edges of the grooves, so that the leather covering thus applied to the body or carcass provides the desired leather exterior surface of the ball, while at the same time, the longitudinal grooves which are necessarily formed where the edges of adjacent blades are inserted into and secured within the grooves, form longitudinal grooves in the exterior surface of the ball into which the flesh of the player's hands will sink to a greater or less extent, thus preventing the ball from slipping in the hands of the player.

My improved inflatable ball, therefore, provides an exterior surface which has no outwardly extending projections at any points thereof which could affect the direction of flight of the ball in bouncing or during its passage through the air,while at the same time the exterior surface is of leather, as is usual, and provides, by means of these grooves, for an interlocking engagement between the exterior surface of the ball and the hands of the player to prevent its accidentally slipping from the players hands.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a ball embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial transverse sectional view of the ball. 40

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of a ball showing a slight modification.

The main body or carcass, I, of the ball, indicated in section in Fig. 2, consists of a molded or hollow body preferably formed of rubber or rubber composition, with a wall sumciently strong to withstand an air pressure up to one hundred pounds per square inch without changing its shape. The body, I, may be of the elongated shape common in footballs, as shown herein, or it may be of spherical or any other desired shape, and is provided with an aperture 2 to receive a suitable valve 3 through which it may be inflated. The outer surface of the body or carcass is provided with a plurality of what I term longitudinal grooves. The word longitudinal is used in analogy to the meridians of longitude of the earth which pass through the opposite polar extremities, and the longitudinal grooves, indicated at 4, preferably extend from one end of the ball to the other, meeting at its opposite polar extremities whatever the shape of the body may be. 5-5 represent the segmental portions or blades as they are called, which are formed of sheet material having substantially uniform thickness, preferably of leather, each blade being of substantially the same shape as the segmental portion of the outer surface of the body between adjacent grooves, but being slightly larger than said segmental portion. These cover blades are secured to the body by suitable adhesive, as cement, glue or the like, and the marginal portions of each blade are tucked into the adjacent grooves and cemented or otherwise adhesively secured therein, preferably by cementing them to the adjacent edges of the grooves. The blades of the cover are thus unconnected with each other except by their adhesive connection with the body. One of the blades is provided with a suitable aperture indicated at 6, adapted to register with the aperture in the valve 3 in the main body, so as to facilitate the inflation of the main body when desired.

It will be understood that the apertures 6 and 2 may be located centrally of one of the blades, as indicated in Fig. 1, or they may be located at any other part of the ball and the ball may be provided with two or more inflation valves if this is found desirable.

It will be noted that the finished appearance of the ball is very much the same as the appearance of the ball having a sewed leather cover and inflatable bladder, except that as there are no seams in the cover, the curvature of the outer surface of the cover is perfectly true, according to the particular shape of the ball, and without any projections to affect its flight in rebounding or otherwise. It will also be noted that there will be provided longitudinal grooves I where the adjacent marginal portions of the blades 5 approach each other and enter the grooves 4 in the main body. The grooves 4 may have a width at the bottom thereof substantially equal to twice the thickness of the leather blades, forming the cover, in which case the inturn'ed marginal portions 50 of the blades will be in substantial contact with each other throughout the length of each groove. In some instances it may be desirable to make the width of the grooves l at the bottom slightly greater than twice the thickness of the leather to secure a greater width to the external grooves 1 between the inturned marginal portions of adjacent blades, in-order to increase the hand grip on the ball, as hereinafter explained.

In some instances, as indicated in Fig. 3, in which the corresponding. parts are given the same reference numerals with the addition of I00, the grooves Ill may have at the bottom a width substantially equal to twice the thickness of the leather blades I05, while the lateral walls I051; of the grooves instead of being substantially radial, as indicated in Fig. 2, may diverge to a greater or less extent, as shown in Fig. 3, thus increasing the width of the exterior grooves I01 between the marginal portions of the blades.

It will be seen that in the use of the ball constructed as hereinafter described when it is grasped by the hands of the players the grooves I (or Ill) permit an interlocking engagement between the ball and the hands of the player, as portions of the fingers or hands, when the ball is gripped, will sink into these grooves and prevent the accidental slipping of the ball from the players hand or hands. This facilitates the passing or throwing of the ball and the accurate catching of it in the player's hands in the course of the game, while the absence of any projecting portions or laces on the exterior of the ball facilitates the kicking of the ball with great accuracy and avoids its deflection in rebounding from a hard surface.

It will be understood that the construction herein shown and described is also applicable to the manufacture of punching bags and other hollow inflatable articles wherever it may be found advantageous or desirable.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A playing ball comprising a hollow inflatable rubber body having a wall of sufficient strength to withstand internal fluid pressure, and provided with a series of grooves on its exterior, and an exterior covering formed of separate pieces of flexible material of substantially uniform thickness independently and adhesively secured to the portions of the outer surface of said body between adjacent grooves, and having their marginal portions extending into said grooves and adhesively secured therein, the separate pieces of said covering being unconnected except by their adhesive connection with the body.

2. A playing ball comprising a hollow inflatable rubber body having a wall of sufficient strength to withstand internal fluid pressure, and provided exteriorly with a series of longitudinal grooves, meeting at axially opposite portions of said body and dividing the exterior surface into a plurality of segments, of a covering for said body comprising a plurality of segmental blades of slightly greater size than the segmental-portions of said body between adjacent grooves, independently and adhesively secured to said segmental portions and having marginal portions extending into said grooves and adhesively united to the adjacent edges thereof.

3. A playing ball provided with a hollow inflatable rubber body having a wall of suilicient strength to withstand internal fluid pressure, provided with a series of longitudinal grooves in its exterior surface meeting at axially opposite portions of said body and having an exterior cover comprising a plurality of segmental blades of leather, independently and adhesively secured to the outer surface of the body and having their marginal portions extending into and adhesively secured in said grooves and the contiguous edges of adjacent blades having inwardly extending faces forming hand engaging grooves between the marginal portions of said blades, providing an interlocking engagement between the ball and the hands of the player, said contiguous edges being unconnected except by the adhesive connection of said blades with said body.

4. A playing ball comprising a hollow inflatable rubber body having a wall of suflicient strength to withstand internal fluid pressure, and having its outer face provided with grooves, and a cover composed of separate blades, adhesively and independently secured to portions of the surface of the body between grooves thereof, and having their marginal portions turned into said grooves and adhesively secured to a wall thereof, the width of said grooves being greater than the combined thicknesses of the marginal portions secured therein and forming hand engaging grooves on the outer surface of the ball to interlock with the hands of the players.

- HENRY DENKERT. 

